Guillermo del Toro looks to have his sights set on a brand new project. Deadline is reporting that the director is interested in helming Legendary Pictures' Pacific Rim, the story of mankind's defense against attacking creatures.

Based on his original 25-page treatment, Travis Beachmam has written the screenplay, which is said to target a PG-13 audience.

Despite rumors to the contrary, nothing is locked on Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness, meaning that taking the director's chair on Pacific Rim could put off the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation for some time.

Regardless of whether Del Toro takes the gig, Legendary looks just about set to move forward with Pacific Rim and, as such, expect official word on a director in the very near future.

Legendary Pictures announced today that Guillermo del Toro is directing the company's upcoming feature, Pacific Rim, confirmed as his next film. The film has already entered pre-production and will begin principal photography in September 2011. Pacific Rim will be released during summer 2013 and will be produced by Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni for Legendary Pictures and Guillermo del Toro.

Stated Guillermo del Toro: "We started developing PAC RIM a while ago with the mad passion and enthusiasm of a project unwatched and unchecked by politics or comparisons. We designed and shepherded the movie we want to make. We start shooting in September and we hit the ground running because we are so in sync. My partnership with Legendary represents, both in scale and creative demands, a huge step forward for me."

The film is a science fiction treatment by Travis Beacham which sees a future Earth defending itself from attacking creatures.

Variety has learned It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day is "in talks" to co-star in the film. When his deal is completed, he'll joined Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and possibly Idris Elba (rumored for a role).

Thor star Idris Elba will play the lead role of Sensi in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim, reports Deadline. He'll be joining Charlie Hunnam and Charlie Day in the sci-fi actioner, scheduled to start production in November.

Pacific Rim is a science fiction story by Travis Beacham which sees a future Earth defending itself from attacking creatures.

The Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures project is targeted for a summer 2013 release.

Attending the press junket for Warner Bros.' upcoming comedy Horrible Bosses, ComingSoon.net had the opportunity to talk with one of the film's stars, Charlie Day.

We'll have the full interview available but soon, but Day did drop a few details about the current status of his involvement with the upcoming Guillermo del Toro project, Pacific Rim. Day was rumored to have joined the project, but he clarified his status for us and talked a bit about meeting Del Toro.

ComingSoon.net: You just signed on for a tour of the "Pacific Rim"...Charlie Day: I'm not officially signed on so I've been told to dodge around answering questions, but I've definitely been having conversations with them about it. I'd hate to say "I'd like to sign on" because I don't want them to low-ball me [laughs] but hopefully that'll all work out.

CS: What was it like meeting the master, Guillermo del Toro?Day: I was very thrilled to find out he'd seen every single episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." That's why we were meeting. Because "Pan's Labyrinth" is up there as one of the greatest movies ever made.

CS: He's such a personality. He's read every book, he's seen every movie. If you were to sign on would you have a "Monster Approval" clause in your contract?Day: [laughs] I will not be given monster approval, but when it comes to Guillermo you let him do all the approving.

CS: Well I hope you can land it because it sounds like an awesome frickin' project.Day: I hope so too.

Shock Till You Drop just spoke with Guillermo del Toro about Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, opening in theaters on August 26. During our conversation, we pressed him for details on Pacific Rim.

"Huge" is the word he used to describe the monsters featured in the film, which concerns a giant monster invasion and the mech suits mankind creates to battle the beasts. "This is my most un-modest film, this has everything. The scale is enormous and I'm just a big kid having fun."

Del Toro will be returning to Toronto shortly after doing press for "Dark" to continue pre-production.

He also touched on last week's news item in which Mike Mignola told a reporter that del Toro likely won't return for Hellboy 3.

The director told us that he WOULD like to do a third film, but his schedule is so nuts "by the time I get to it and by the time we got Ron [Perlman] back, he'll be a HellMAN and in a wheelchair," del Toro joked.

Before I wrapped with him, del Toro assured us that he's still interested in doing Frankenstein, regardless of how many similar projects are in development. "My take is so unique, it will set it apart," he said. Universal still has interest in getting the film off the ground.

The very first look at one of the sets from Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim is now online, thanks to Canada's CBC News (via On Location Vacations), who, in the video here, explore a Toronto street converted to look like Tokyo in the wake of a giant monster attack.

Market Saw received a plot crunch for Guillermo del Toro's massive cinematic undertaking Pacific Rim, due in theaters on July 17th from Warner Bros. and Legendary. This thing is going to make you grin from ear to ear. The site adds that a big Comic-Con 2012 preview is being prepared. Exciting stuff. Read on...

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Production still underway on his Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro spoke with Total Film about the enormous scale of his Kaiju epic.

"When we’re talking about the physicality of the fight," he said, "we ended up building several blocks of Hong Kong. And literally demolished them. We built a building and then we took down the buildings. We built command centres of the robots that were the size of the house. We started them on hydraulic rigs that shoot and elevated them and moved them round so you could really get a sense of the physical nature driving a robot like this."

The film, set for release on July 12, 2013, Pacific Rim is officially described as follows:

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Synopsis: When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Guillermo del Toro is deep into production on Pacific Rim - his, in short, giant robots versus giant monsters epic which is opening July 17, 2013. The man has already done a bit of talking to Total Film about what's to come and now more quotes from his interview have hit the web.

"We had a Tokyo scene that we shot here in Toronto. We had several Hong Kong scenes and a few scenes in Australia, through the television. We briefly see the kaiju take over San Francisco. The whole Pacific Rim needs a sense of danger."

"We take the battles far and above! Two or three of them happen in places where there have never been a battle between kaiju and robots. From the bottom of the ocean to the atmosphere of the Earth. We have a battle in a storm at sea. Every battle we try to do differently. One is seen from the point of view of a single person. We never cut away from that point of view."